Environment

3:36 pm

Thu August 25, 2011

Auditorium Shores Gets $1 Million Grant For Improvements

A $1 million grant from the state's park agency will pay for improvements to Auditorium Shores and the city's most popular trailhead.

Photo by Jeff Heimsath for KUT News.

Better restrooms, an educational water feature, and maybe a few more parking spaces could come to Auditorium Shores in the future. The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department has awarded the City of Austin a $1 million urban park grant to make improvements to the Austin’s most popular trailhead.

Austin Parks and Recreation is updating the master plan for Auditorium Shores and Butler Park. The grant will be used to complete projects in this master plan. The City of Austin is matching the TPWD grant.

“This trail head is widely recognized as a major destination for Austin trail users but also as an identity of the city,” said Marty Stump, project manager with Austin Parks and Recreation.

Here is a brief list of what improvement will be made to Auditorium Shores:

Revamp of the restrooms

Trail realignment and shore restoration

Improve the warm up/stretching area

Turn the pond at the Sandy Davis Gazebo into an educational water feature

The grants are funded through federal money dedicated to park development. Tim Hogsett, recreation grants director for TPWD said that the agency has also been able to offer park project grants through the state’s sporting goods sales tax, although that program has been suspended for the next two years because of budget cuts.

“These may be some of the last grants that we are able to do for the next couple of years,” Hogsett said.